Story of movie The Green Hornet Serial :
The Green Hornet is a 1940 Universal movie serial based on The Green Hornet radio series by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker.
| The Green Hornet | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ford Beebe Ray Taylor |
| Produced by | Henry MacRae |
| Written by | Fran Striker (adapted from the radio dramatic adventure serial by) |
| Screenplay by | George H. Plympton (as Geo. H. Plympton) Basil Dickey Morrison Wood (as Morrison C. Wood) Lyonel Margolies |
| Starring | Gordon Jones Wade Boteler Keye Luke Anne Nagel |
| Cinematography | Jerome Ash William A. Sickner |
| Edited by | Irving Birnbaum Joseph Gluck Alvin Todd |
Production company | Universal Pictures |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 258 minutes (13 chapters) 99 minutes (movie) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Screenplay
Newspaper publisher Britt Reid, secretly The Green Hornet, and his Korean valet Kato investigate and expose several seemingly separate rackets. This leads them into continued conflict with the Chief, the criminal mastermind behind the Syndicate and the individual crimes.
- Gordon Jones as Britt Reid otherwise known as The Green Hornet
- Wade Boteler as Michael Axford
- Keye Luke as Kato, who is Korean in this serial rather than the original Japanese nationality of the character due to anti-Japanese sentiment rising at the time. This was two years prior to the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the USA's entry into the war (all thirteen episodes are copyrighted 1939). The radio version dropped the nationality from the introductory sequence, included passing references to him being Filipino in dialogue, and only years later added that to the standard intro.
- Anne Nagel as Leonore Case
- Phillip Trent as Jasper Jenks
- Cy Kendall as Curtis Monroe
- Stanley Andrews as Police Commissioner
- Selmer Jackson as District Attorney
- Joseph Crehan as Judge Stanton
- Walter McGrail as Dean
- Gene Rizzi as Corey
- John Kelly as Pete Hawks
- Eddie Dunn as D.H. Sligby
- Edward Earle as Felix Grant
- Ben Taggart as Phil Bartlett
- Clyde Dilson as Meadows
- Jerry Marlowe as Bob Stafford
- Frederick Vogeding as Max Gregory (as Fredrik Vogeding)
In 1990, GoodTimes Home Video released a feature-length movie version, re-edited from the last six chapters, under the same title.
In 2011, VCI Entertainment released its own version, The Green Hornet: Movie Edition. It includes the beginning, end, and selected other chapters of the serial. The DVD was released on January 11, 2011.
The 1960s Batman television series was created based on the popularity of a re-release of Columbia's Batman serial. The success of both led to the production of a Green Hornet series, which was played as a straight action mystery series, "in the tradition of its former presentations", rather than the camp Batman series. It lasted one season.
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